Seryosha and other Cossack infantrymen from Tatar villages hid behind a dirt slope on the side of the road.

On both sides of them, the skirmish lines of the Russian army expanded all the way, and the soldiers of the entire Veshchensk 1st Battalion were here. They were waiting for the signal to start the offensive.

"Did you hear that," Mishka whispered to Seryosha, his nervousness clearly felt in his tone, "the infantry regiment in Donetsk met the Germans and was killed a hundred people. ”

"It was a big battle, and they ran into a German infantry regiment?" Seryosha asked in a whisper, trying to ease his tension in this way.

"No, it's said to be a German reconnaissance team."

Seryosha turned his head to look at Myshka, and he noticed that Sjepan, who was lying on the other side of Myshka, also turned his head to look at Myshka, as if he had heard Myshka's words.

Seryosha and Sjepan glanced at each other, and then Sjepan patted Mishka on the back: "You are talking nonsense, how can a reconnaissance team kill so many people!" ”

"Really! They were marching, and then the German scouts came swaggering in a small car, and they didn't realize that it was the Germans, and they were all staring at the car for a novelty. Until a blacksmith said, "Is there an iron cross on the cart?" Only then did they react, and then the Germans opened fire from the machine guns on the car. At that time, they were all on the road, and the standard four-column march was swept down in a large area at once! ”

"Nonsense, the Germans are in black uniforms," Sjepan said in disbelief, "you can recognize it from a distance, how can you let them drive to your side!" ”

"It's because everyone thinks that the Germans are all black, so they don't find out that they are Germans, because the Germans are wearing fancy clothes! Fancy clothes! ”

"If you talk nonsense, I'll beat you like Gregory." Sjepan huffed and said to Myshka, "You call it a demagogue, you know? The secretary was told that he was going to be whipped. ”

At this time, Seryosha heard someone behind him: "What he said is true, I also heard it, but I didn't dare to tell everyone." After discovering that it was the German reconnaissance team, a cavalry captain who was resting near the infantry regiment became angry and chased after him with his troops, only to be bombed by the air force called by the Germans. ”

At this time, the Cossacks, who had just been listening to the conversation between Mishka and Stepan, began to express their opinions on the matter, both believers and unbelievers, but the uneasy feeling was indeed brewing in the hearts of all, and it was getting stronger and stronger.

At this time, the roar of the secretary finally came: "What are you arguing about! Shut my mouth and stay there! ”

At this time, someone couldn't help but reply: "You don't charge, go back and take care of our luggage!" ”

"What? Okay, Alekseevich! If you can come back, see how I clean you up! Listen, as long as your ****** doesn't start charging, you're in my hands! ”

At this time, the company commander, who had been silent, said, "Okay, okay, let them go." Brothers, I know what you're worried about. ”

The company commander stood up and walked along the straggler line of soldiers from the Tatar village, saying as he went: "It is true that the 1st Corps of Donetsk met the Germans, but the casualties were not as heavy as the legend said, and the Germans did not have only one car and three people, but a reconnaissance team of ten people and three cars. ”

(Hans Zimmer and the others would have laughed if they had known that the Russians had expanded their squad so much.) ）

"The Germans have arrived, perhaps in the village in front of us," the company commander continued, "but fear not, we defeated them once, and both Brusinov and Budyonny have made the damned Germans suffer. Don't worry about the weapons of the Germans, we have already fought with the Poles with German-made equipment, and many of you have German weapons captured from the Poles, aren't you? So, let's rush forward, win the battle, and then camp and sleep. Maybe you can enjoy a German canned meal before you go to bed. ”

"And Polish women." I don't know who said that.

The company commander just smiled.

At this time, the cannon sounded.

The offensive is about to begin.

"Just like in training," the company commander raised his voice, trying not to be overshadowed by the sound of shelling, "start moving forward when you see the flares, don't be afraid of the barrage of shells that fall in front of us!" ”

The first few attacks in which the Tatar infantry were engaged were not supported by artillery, they simply rushed forward and killed the first Polish they saw with bayonets, and then the battle ended.

Seryosha and his comrades lay on the ground, listening to the rumbling of artillery. The shelling continued for almost half an hour, after which the sound of the shelling subsided significantly.

Seryosha was wondering when the sound of the cannon stopped.

Then a flare rose into the sky.

"Damn, I thought we were going to follow Xu Jin barrage to attack."

Mishka muttered, and the company commander's voice drowned out his muttering: "All, start attacking!" Move it! ”

Seryosha saw the company commander draw his saber and raise it above his head, and take the lead towards the top of the mound. Seryosha pushed the ground to his feet and took a step, and beside him, the Cossacks also woke up from the impact of the unexpectedly stopped shelling, and stood up with their guns.

The skirmishers began to push forward, quickly past the small dirt bags they had used to block the enemy's view.

Seryosha found several puffs of black smoke rising from the targeted village, while more than seventy percent of the buildings on the edge of the village had been destroyed by shelling.

Seryosha carefully observed the village.

Something was running around the village, and they suddenly flashed in Seryosha's field of vision like shadows, but before Seryosha could see them clearly, they disappeared.

Regardless of whether the village was German or Pole, they were not crushed by the shelling just now.

Seryosha felt his hands drenched in sweat and the butt of his rifle became sweaty, and he wiped his hands on his military coat and re-grasped his rifle.

At this time, he heard a sharp and subtle whistling sound in the air.

The next moment the shells fell twenty yards from Seryosha, and the explosion shattered the black soil of Poland, kicking up a cloud of dust higher than a person.

The second shell fell shortly after, this one directly in the skirmishers, knocking over two people in an instant.

Wails penetrated Seryosha's ears.

"Ahh I got shot, doctor! ”

More shells fell one after another, and the intensity of the shelling made Seryosha suspect that the Germans' artillery was twice as strong as the Russian artillery that had just provided them with support.

But Prokofiev, who was walking next to Seryosha, said: "Something is wrong, the sound of the shells is not right." It's not like a cannonball from a cannonball. I think the Germans were probably using mortars. I saw that thing in the last big war, it has a high trajectory, and it was used to blow up trenches. When the thing fired, it was much quieter than the cannon, like a loud fart. Damn, how can they have mortars? ”

"Speed up!" The company commander shouted, "The Germans must have measured the distance in advance!" If you don't want to be blown up, run for me! ”

Saying that, the company commander took the lead in running, Seryosha gritted his teeth and ran as well—and then he found that his comrades had made the same choice almost at the same moment.

The company on the left side of the Tatar village also shouted, and the Tatar Cossacks followed suit, raising their morale with shouts of killing.

Perhaps the enemy was stimulated by this shout of killing, and the machine gun, which had not been fired, suddenly rang out.

The sound was completely different from the Maximine familiar to the Cossacks, the individual shots were no longer distinguishable, and the dense gunfire combined into an unpleasant hiss.

There was a firing point on Seryosha's left side, and when it turned the line of fire towards Seryosha, Seryosha lay on the ground without thinking about it.

He heard bullets whizzing over his head, and for a moment he felt that the back of his head must have been torn off a piece of skin by the bullet that had been scraped against him.

Seryosha lay on the ground unable to move, unable to do almost anything except to flex his neck.

The mortar, a weapon of fire, was still firing, and shells fell one after another into the Cossacks lying on the ground, and although there were no casualties because everyone was lying on their stomachs, the loud noise of the explosion and the shock wave still severely destroyed the morale of the Cossacks.

Seryosha heard someone screaming.

"me, I'm bleeding all over the ground!"

"Mom!"

"Stand up! Advance! ”

Seryosha saw the company commander chanting as he ran along the skirmish line with his waist bent.

One by one, he pulled the Cossacks from the ground and kicked them in the ass hard: "Give me forward!" There were only three machine guns on the front! It is impossible to cover all the places all the time! Give me alternate progress! Just rush to the front stable and we'll have cover, quick! ”

Seryosha gritted his teeth and stood up and ran towards the stable, he heard footsteps and heavy breathing behind him, but he did not dare to look back, afraid that he would see only one or two people following him.

At this time, he heard an exclamation from someone next to him, and he lay on the ground without saying a word, and then the bullet swept a "fence" of smoke and dust not far behind him. The sound of a bullet hitting the ground made the back of his head tingle.

Seryosha looked back and found that the company commander was clutching his chest, half-kneeling on the ground with a saber, blood spreading under the palm of his chest cover, and the red marks gradually expanded.

"Company commander!" Seryosha reflexively wanted to rush towards the company commander, but was pulled by Mishka.

"You're crazy! The Germans are still firing! ”

Although it is not certain that the front is German, Seryosha does not refute Mishka - if it were not for the Germans, it would not explain the completely different density of firepower from before.

"." Mishka raised her head slightly, observing the positions of the Germans on the outskirts of the village, "In addition to machine guns, there are other automatic firearms firing!" I see at least a dozen or more flashes in a row, damn it, can they keep up with this kind of ammunition? ”

Seryosha was about to reply, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Cossack standing up and running backwards.

"Come back!" The company commander, who was still in a kneeling position, shouted, "You guys come back for me!" ”

At this time, a shell landed next to the company commander and lifted him up.

Seryosha watched as the company commander's body rolled in the sky, then fell to the ground, twisting into a strange angle. The company commander's military hat fell not far from Seryosha, and from his vantage point, a small photograph of a woman holding a child could be seen tucked inside the hat.

Seryosha crawled over and picked up the company commander's hat.

At this time he heard Mishka's voice: "Seryosha! What are you waiting for! Run! ”

Seryosha realized that everyone was running backwards, he also stood up, opened his legs and ran backwards desperately, his rifle flew out of his hand, but he didn't even look at the rifle, he ran lifelessly with the company commander's hat, all the way to the small mound he crossed when he set off.